Kit Palmer | January 21, 2016
There was a more relaxed and casual atmosphere at today’s pre-race press conference for this weekend’s Anaheim 2 Supercross. Headlining this week’s conference included the Red Bull KTM, Monster Energy Yamaha, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, Rock River Yamaha, Smartop MotoConcepts Racing and Yoshimura Suzuki Teams.
Afterward, the riders got a chance to ride a small portion of the track, which appears to be nearly completed and, better yet, dry! But there is slight chance for light rain in the forecast for Saturday, but the chance has been getting smaller, it seems, by the hour.
Points leader and previous-round winner, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey says he’s pleased how the opening two rounds of the series has gone for him.
“Both rounds have been good,” said Dungey, “but I had to work for it in the first race. That first round, there was a lot of intensity, nerves and there was a lot going on, so it’s nice to get settled in now. Going from seventh to second was good, but you really have to get a good start at every race. You can’t get a 10th-place start and win; is it possible? Yeah, but the chances are very slim. Right now, getting good starts is the key to the series.”
Dungey’s teammate Marvin Musquin has his first two races in the 450 class under his belt. He finished 14th at A1 and cracked the top 10 with a ninth at San Diego. Though the former 250SX champ is used to winning and getting on the podium, the 450SX rookie isn’t discouraged yet.
“When you look at the guys ahead of me, who they are—but I want to do better,” he said. “But at the same time, the main thing is to get confidence and get happy on the bike, and that’s what we’re getting better at. San Diego was an improvement with the results but a big improvement in the riding, and the feeling on the bike.”
Musquin said the hardest adjustment going from the 250 class to the 450 class is just getting used to the bike, not so much the different class of racers.
“It’s the bike,” he said. “We had a base setting, but when you get to the race track and you want to push a lot—it wasn’t the best for me. I’m really light, 142 pounds, compared to the other guys—I needed a different setting for the bike. The team really worked hard for me and we made some improvements for me, so hopefully I will feel better on the track.”
Last year, Musquin considered racing KTM’s 350 SX-F model, but says he’s glad he’s on the 450.
“Yes, I considered the 350 but I started riding the 450 and got used to it and obviously you need that power to get the starts,” Musquin said. “KTM has made a lot of improvement on the 450 and the new bike is pretty nice. I am happy.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Pourcel is also adjusting to supercross and the 450 class. The Frenchman has not made it into the top 10 yet but has proven that he has the speed in practice and qualifying but hasn’t found the magic combination once the gate drops and it’s time to race.
“There are lot of good guys on the gas; first year for me,” Pourcel said. “It’s good to be back with all of the good guys and I can learn from them. I’ve got the speed, but, supercross, it’s been over five years now [since he’s raced Supercross] and to just get into it—those guys have been doing it for so long, I need a couple of races and should be back in the groove, probably at least five or six races, then I’ll probably feel pretty comfortable. The speed is there, but when it comes to racing, I’m kind of a little shy on the track right now, but I know there are a lot of races this year and I have the time to learn. It’s nice to have the speed right away; it’s just bringing it all together at the race and get a good start.”
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Chad Reed might have surprised some with his strong second-place finish at San Diego. After placing sixth at Anaheim 1, he said he only really needed to work on his starts, and that he obviously did.
“I felt good about it [getting second], it was 20 solid laps, got a little shuffled around at the beginning but was able to make passes and get back into second and go with Ryan,” Reed said. “The racer in me, I’m already thinking of things that I felt I could be better at, things that I was good at and trying to dissect all these things, but in the moment I was happy. It was a solid weekend.
“I felt much better on my starts, we worked hard,” he added. “We did a few things to the bike, nothing too crazy. You can do a lot [to make a bike do the starts better]—it’s always that balance. You can do a lot of things to make the bike good at the start that mess it up on the track. Wheelbase plays a big role on the start and also handling on the track. We couldn’t really find a compromise like that, so we had to kind of tweak my style, my way of letting out the clutch. Electronics these days is pretty endless, too, there is a lot involved—launch control, everything like that. I haven’t had a lot of luck with launch control in my career, but I think we found something that’s enough of assistance to help me at this point. We worked on that a little bit and I think it showed last weekend.”
He also added that he’s adjusting well to his new Yamaha YZ450F.
“It’s extremely different in one way but still a Yamaha,” he said. “I don’t feel that it’s holding me back at all, the bike does things really well. Like last week in the heat race, I was like at my max, I wasn’t comfortable going the speed Dungey was able to go, and more than anything, I wasn’t able to get to some of the places that I needed to get to make that speed more natural. We made a small change for the main event and didn’t feel maxed out as much as I did in the heat race, so the speed was naturally coming. Those are little things that you need in your arsenal.”
The Yoshimura Suzuki Team did not attend the conference. Blake Baggett is still out with injury and James Stewart is still recovering from his concussion suffered at Anaheim 1. He did get clearance to race at San Diego but pulled out after practice, saying that he just didn’t feel good enough to race. His status for Anaheim 2 is still day to day.